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Republican state Senator Sharon Runner from the Antelope Valley is recovering from a double lung transplant, but she's expected to make a full recovery.

For 30 years, Runner has been living with a rare, chronic disease, called limited scleroderma. It’s an auto-immune disorder, also known as CREST syndrome, and it causes the body’s immune system to attack healthy tissue. One of the more visible manifestations of the condition is a hardening of the skin.

The senator's husband, George Runner, says he and his wife are thankful for the organ donation program at UCLA Medical Center.

"We are grateful not only for our family," George Runner said, "but I’m sure there are many other families that benefitted from that donor’s decision."

Runner’s office says the organs from that anonymous donor were transplanted into at least seven other patients.

Runner is expected to spend about three weeks in the hospital.

She’s already announced she’s not running for re-election, because of her health.